My eyebrows collapse. “Why do you need an answer?”
“Well, becausethatguy didn’t know me, and not only did he pay for my mistake, but he falsely admitted to being the one to make it, too.” She raises her head high. “When I joined the squad, you could barely even look at me. You were considerably different to that guy. You’re only just starting to tolerate me now.”
The storm outside mirrors the whirlwind of emotions brewing inside me, and my chest expands as I breathe. “What do you want me to say, Mae?”
She shakes her head. “You put on this big boy act, but that person in the wine store that day—that was therealyou. Helping someone struggling with no expectation for something in return. Paying and walking out without so much as an explanation because youwantedto help. It made you feel good. I saw it. You’re not as cold as you try to perceive yourself to be, Nathan.”
My eyes are hard as they refuse to break from her determined face.
She’s so incredibly bold and outgoing, and, at the same time, compassionate and sensitive. They’re the very qualities I admire in a person—traits I was never exposed to while growing up.
I clench my fists by my side as lightning strikes again, a streak of light flashing over her face. She’s so fucking beautiful it hurts. Too beautiful for her own good. Formyown good. Because all I want to do is sayfuck the contractand kiss her.
She sees me for who I am—or who I want to be—and even when I showed her nothing but disregard, she still gave me the benefit of the doubt.
But my contract with the Storks is all I have. The only thing that gives me purpose.
“Emmanuel, the owner, is a friend of mine,” I state.
“That doesn't explain taking the fall. You could have paid and left it at that, but instead, you claimed thatyou’ddropped the wine.”
“I invited you into my car to get you out of the rain, not to quiz me on my past decisions, princess.” I’m deflecting, but I don’t know what to say.
Does she want me to admit that seeing her all flustered and frustrated in Emmanuel’s store that day bothered me?
That just her laugh had made me feel things that had been dormant for years?
That I all I want to do is bend her over in this car and fuck the questions right out of her?
“Fine.” Mae drags her bottom lip into her mouth, her finger picking at the skin as she remains quiet for a moment too long. “My father did it.”
“What?”
“My scar,” she says. “You look at it a lot.”
My heart skips a beat, heavy like lead in my chest. I’d thought I’d at least been subtle with it. But perhaps I’m not as slick as I think I am. “Your father?”
“He didn’t mean to.” Her face falters. “I mean, he did, but he also didn’t. He was in the military but was discharged after being diagnosed with PTSD. He would have blackouts where he’d freak out, and even though we’d try to calm him down, it never really worked. He threw a vase at my head, and it cut me. I had to get stitches.”
I blink a few times. “Where is he now?”
Mae shrugs. “Hurting me was the final straw for him. He left because he thought it wasn’t safe for us, but he promised to come back when he was better. Haven’t heard from him in years.”
Her voice doesn’t crack as she talks. It’s almost like she’s prepared herself for this moment. Prepared herself to be strong and stoic. But her eyes tell me something very different. The sadness in them… it’s not just in the past. It’s something that’s still haunting her, still living inside. My heart hurts for her.
“And you have no idea if he’s still in the country?”
“I have no idea if he’s evenaliveanymore.” Mae rubs at her nose, but she doesn’t cry.
Cam had mentioned she’d had a tough childhood, but at the time, I’d assumed it was linked to how her mother treated her. Then, when Poppy asked about her father that day in her apartment, and I saw the way Mae began to spiral mentally, I knew there was more to the story.
Mae’s expression suggests she’s not used to saying this aloud, so I ask, “Have you talked to your family about it?”
“No, not really. My mom blames him for joining the military in the first place, and Cam and I don’t discuss it often. I think he believes he’s dead, but I can’t give up like that.”
“Military men are tough. They don’t give up easily, especially when a family is waiting for them. I think it’s admirable you aren’t assuming the worst.”
Evan’s father was in the military. He died in action, but he always has incredible stories to tell about his father. There was nothing that he loved more than his family.
